RICHARD Walker was a hero for Cambridge United's back four and goalkeeper after cancelling out the goal they gifted Rochdale. But the boot was literally on the other foot when a potentially demoralising defeat looked certain two minutes from time at Darlington.

The trek back from the far north would have seemed like an agonising eternity for the young striker if his team had lost after he squandered probable match-winning chances.

The Feethams fans were rising to cheer an 88th minute winner which would have boosted slim play-off hopes when Shaun Marshall pulled off a wonder save. Lee Ellison sliced through the United defence on the right and hit a perfect pass into the path of Mario Dorner. The Austrian forward struck the ball well from 10 yards out, but instead of flashing low into the net it ricochetted to safety off the out-rushing keeper's boot.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to get a hand on it," said Marshall. "I just had to get something in the way."

The moment of excitement was far from typical, however, in a generally low-key game as two sides, who on their day can produce some of the best football in the division, struggled to stitch their game together on a patched-up pitch of bobbly grass and bare earth.

"The pitch was the winner," said United boss Roy McFarland. "I think it beat both teams."

The usually uneven, and often bizarre bounce may have had something to do with Walker's misfortune in the penalty area. But his reaction after his second miss, of putting both hands over his face, showed how much he blamed himself.

The ball did sit up awkwardly when he had his first opportunity, after Trevor Benjamin headed down a Scott Eustace free kick in the sixth minute, and he could only scuff a shot straight at the keeper from eight yards out.

It looked easier to score than miss, though, on the stroke of half time when Martin Butler helped an Alex Russell free kick across the face of goal, only for the Aston Villa loanee to slice the ball wide of the far post from four yards.

A goal then would surely have sunk a Darlington side with only one win in their previous six home games, and badly missing suspended top scorer Marco Gabbiadini. They failed to force a single save from Marshall in a first half United dominated territorially without producing a good enough final ball to create more than one real chance from open play.

Skipper Paul Wanless, typically shrugging off the problems of a back strain and a swollen eye from an aerial clash, started an excellent 28th minute move involving Neil Mustoe and Walker, but finished with a header inches too high.

Darlington manager David Hodgson seemed slightly confused after the game, firstly offering: "We adapted to the bad pitch better than they did," then adding, "if you have a team of 6ft 3ins players like Cambridge you are only going to play it one way."

No-one in the black and blue away strip was quite that big, and if he thought United were playing a long-ball game -- which they were not -- it would have represented the ideal adaptation to the prevailing conditions.

Twenty minutes of stalemate after the break suggested a dreary plod through the increasingly ploughed up pitch to an inevitable goalless draw. It was hardly the stage for United's play-maker Alex Russell to star in his first start after a month out injured. And there was not a lot of interaction between the forwards or back-up from midfield or full-backs. So it was something of a surprise that in the end the 0-0 scoreline was down to some good goalkeeping, and a squandered chance or two.

Late substitutions by both sides provided some reward for home and long-distance fans braving a cold, grey spring afternoon which made the cricketers on the adjoining pitch look as out of place as those stoic swimmers who take daring, dotty dips on Christmas Day.

John Taylor, coolly controlling the ball at an 80th minute corner, rammed in an angled drive which the keeper did well to block at the far post. And before Marshall played his important part in securing another point to edge United towards promotion, Mark Barnard, as well as Dorner, fired wide from good positions.

DARLINGTON started with neither of their top scorers against top of the league Cambridge, as Gabbiadini was suspended and Naylor on the bench.

On two minutes Cambridge were on the attack when Campbell’s cross was knocked just over the bar by Benjamin. But Darlington were soon moving forward and Atkinson’s header from the edge of the penalty area drifted narrowly wide.

Cambridge were seeking their 10th away win of the season, and Darlington their 10th home success. Walker missed a good chance when he sent a close range effort straight into the hands of Preece after Benjamin set up the chance. Quakers had lost four of their last six home games and struggled to get going in the early stages.

But Cambridge looked a powerful side, strong in the tackle and dominant in the air, and Walker sent a 20-yard drive just past the post after bursting through the defence. And in a fine break, Wanless headed over a cross from Walker, then Russell sent another accurate cross narrowly off target.

Carruthers won Quaker’s first corner on 28 minutes, but Cambridge survived the goal mouth scramble which followed. However, on 31 minutes Campbell was not far off target for Quakers from 16 yards after a good move involving Liddle and Carruthers. Ellison and Carruthers were working hard up front, but not linking well and Cambridge were coping comfortably in defence. And when Ellison turned smartly on to Carruthers’s flick, the defence was back in numbers to clear.

Back came Cambridge for Butler to turn well but fired too close to Preece. Then Ellison shot straight at Marshall on 42 minutes after Atkinson burst through to set up the chance. However, Cambridge should have gone ahead when Walker failed to convert Russell’s free kick when just six yards out.

Both sides looked to push forward at the start of the second half. On 51 minutes, Darlington brought on Barnard for Himsworth, who had taken a heavy knock in the first half. Ellison appeared to have missed a great chance when he blazed Carruthers’ flick over the bar from six yards out, but the flag had gone up for offside.

Eustace was hurt in a challenge with Ellison but continued after treatment, then Benjamin clattered into Quakers midfielder Campbell as the game turned rough. But still neither keeper had been seriously tested. On 62 minutes, Wanless was booked for a foul on Atkinson, which halted a promising Darlington attack. Then Darlington’s Campbell was shown the yellow card for a foul on his namesake.

The game livened up towards the end and on 76 minutes Ellison’s shot was only just off target after he latched onto Liddle's cross. Then Cambridge sub Taylor saw a low angled drive blocked by Preece. Two minutes later Barnard was not far off target for Darlington after exchanging passes with Bennett.

Three minutes from time Marshall made a brilliant save with his legs to deny Darlington a winner when Dorner latched onto Naylor’s pass and fired goalwards.

This match did as much for the reputation of Third Division Football as Bernard Manning has done for tasteful British comedy. The pitch was an uneven and disjointed mess... both teams seemed to use it as some sort of role model and indeed excuse for their respective performances.

Darlington, like a delicate leaf clinging to an autumn tree, appeared to need only the lightest breeze to blow them away. They defended well at times, and set out their stall reasonably competently. They still never looked anything other than the mid-table also-rans they are destined to be. Many United supporters were asking the question "Do we want this?" and it summed up the afternoon's events quite well...I don't think we 'wanted'' it enough. I am told that chance favours the prepared mind, and despite having the overall better opportunities the slice of luck needed for the breakthrough was never really earned during an afternoon's entertainment which personified the word mediocre.

Alex Russell returned to the starting line up, and despite reports that he would not play, Paul Wanless completed one of the strongest looking United line-ups for many weeks. The game began encouragingly as they carved out two half chances to take the lead. Trevor Benjamin flashed a header just over, and Richard Walker showed neat control inside the penalty box but under pressure from a Darlington defender could only hit a tame shot into the hand of David Preece. Just as against Rochdale earlier in the week, United could not find the breakthrough that would surely have acted as a platform to a better performance and result.

As time drew on, the chances of United scoring began to look less likely. Walker and Butler were working well up front, feeding from one another yet ultimately left wanting when it came to producing the killer move. Trevor Benjamin was struggling to find a level of pace, movement or ambition to bother the Darlington defence. He did manage to send Richard Walker on an angled run on goal just before the half hour mark but the Aston Villa Striker watched his attempt flash wide of the far post.

The first half was a very low key and un-entertaining affair during which United never looked dangerous, but at the same time never really looked in danger either. Darlington were limited to a few half-hearted attacks as Duncan and Eustace cemented together a well-organised defence. A blocked attempt from Paul Campbell and a speculative shot from former Peterborough striker Martin Curruthers were the only items of evidence put forward by the Darlington team in the first half suggesting they were likely to cause United any real problems for the remainder of the game.

The second half was very similar to the first, with United constantly looking the more competent team on the ball. We desperately needed Alex Russell to torment the Darlington defence with his neat skills and play making ability. Unfortunately the former Rochdale player looked tired and un-sharp on his return. He broke free down the left flank shortly after the restart, but delivered a final ball into the box that was too hard for butler to control and flew out for a throw in on the opposite side of the pitch.

The tempo at which United seemed content to play the match was far more worrying than the overall performance, which both defensively and in midfield never fell below adequate. Some players appeared to be strolling in the park with Trevor Benjamin being the main culprit. When he has a game like this United might as well be playing with ten men. His play was disjointed and at times appeared to be lacking the motivation, creation and energy that his recent performances have been containing.

At times it looked as though we were a whisker away from producing the breakthrough, but just lacking that killer ball. Martin Butler can consider himself very unfortunate not to have been gifted more clear cut opportunities to give United the lead, but the ball never fell kindly in the box during a frustrating match of football.

Ben Chenery went on a stunning run almost on the hour mark as he stormed from just inside his own half to the edge of the penalty box, beating three Darlington players on the way. The ball took a nasty bobble on the awful pitch and his final shot flew high and wide much to the disappointment of the 250 or so hardy United fans huddled behind the goal. Overall though both Chenery's and Campbell's play was extremely average, failing to inject any degree of urgency or penetration when taking the ball forward. Most, if not all, of United's ineffective performances seem to stem from the full-backs lack of ability and confidence when taking the ball into the opposition's half of the field.

Taylor replaced the lacklustre Benjamin ten minutes before the end. The way the teenage striker jogged slowly from the pitch summed up his contribution and perhaps attitude towards the game. The 'King' entered the fray and immediately looked as though he was the missing ingredient from United's attacking cocktail. He set Martin Butler free with his first touch of the ball, but the Division's leading marksman was thwarted at the last moment by a defender who cleared the ball for a corner. Alex Russell drilled a corner to the far post where Taylor was on hand to control the ball before drilling a shot that David Preece did well to save with his feet.

The final few minutes however were played mainly in the United half of the field as Darlington formulated a late onslaught for all the points. Dormer broke free of the defence with the clock showing 90 minutes but found Shaun Marshall in inspirational form. Earlier in the half he had produced on of the saves of the season but the offside flag deemed his efforts as unnecessary. This time though his stunning save at his near-post safe guarded the point for United as he spread himself well and saved with his legs.

There was still time for one last chance for United to take all the points however, as Martin Butler neatly turned inside his own half and surged forward with the ball before releasing Taylor 40 yards from goal. The Darlington defence closed in and Taylor failed to thread the ball to the far post runner who would have been clear through on goal. The performance was generally patchy and at times very average. The pitch didn't help, and neither did the fussy referee but if you are going to win Championships then you must find the character, confidence and ability to rise above such adversity.

United will be unable to mathematically secure promotion at Swansea, but this may not be a bad thing. If Scunthorpe fail to win on a tough fixture away at Halifax on Tuesday and United can pick something up from their long trek to Wales then we will have a clear and precise target. Victory against our deadly local rivals on April 24th would guarantee the promotion party of the millennium.

Man of the match: Shaun Marshall saved United a point with a breathtaking last minute save, but also managed to sustain a fine performance for the whole match. Andy Duncan, Scott Eustace and Paul Wanless all had competitive and influential matches but Shaun just failed to put a foot wrong.

Not too bad a performance on what must rate as one of the worst pitches in Div 3 (although I hear Rochdales' is even worse). The game certainly wasn't as difficult as I expected it to be but as we struggled to get to grips with pitch we only managed to get our game going in patches .

Butler must count himself unlucky having 3 times been a fag paper away from being through in the 2nd half and on one occasion was just about to let fly from 10yrds when he had the ball toe poked away from him by a Darlington defender.

Darlo relied very much on the break away tactics which I must say they are fairly good at but are hampered by the dreadful playing surface but overall their defence and keeper was the busiest.

Big Trev was as jaded as I've seen him all season and this point was rammed home when he was replaced by Taylor who immediately injected some much needed movement in the forward line with his running and passing, indeed he was unlucky when his close range angled shot was stopped on the line by the 'keepers legs, all this from a bloke almost twice Benjis age. In the 10 or so mins that Taylor was on he contributed more to the United attack than Trev managed in a tired lacklustre and seemingly half-hearted 80 mins.

It was great to see Wanless make the starting line up and he was as wholehearted as ever, putting himself about in his usual way despite two nasty looking head clashes and an awkward fall. Mustoe was busy although largely ineffective as he either chose the sideways option too often or was beaten by the ploughed field of a pitch. Russell clearly isn't match fit and just didn't figure in the game although he gave it his all, Ashbee replaced him at the same time as Taylor came on but never had time to influence the game.

We looked solid at the back and were rarely bothered by the Darlington attack and the one time they hit the target Marshall saved superbly with his legs and with only around 3 mins left on the clock that would have been it. Having said that we should have been a couple of goals up by then, one from the first half when somehow the otherwise impressive Walker managed to miss an open goal from six yards following a quickly taken free kick, and in the second we wasted enough possession around the Darlo penalty area with over elaboration when a run at the defence or a sweetly hit shot would possibly have borne fruit.

All in all we had the lions share of the game but failed to take advantage and turn our posession into clear cut chances, and there were spells when it was obvious that the points were there for the taking if we could just make the crucial break through.

Still it's yet another point away from home against a side with play-off aspirations although the two points dropped by them today has probably all but killed those hopes off.

Although Scunny made up a little ground on us today at Hull the 0-0 between Brentford and Ointment was a good result for us so we're still on course, and I was pleased with the point and encouraged by the performance ... we're nearly there.

Tuesday's goal hero Richard Walker was rewarded with a place in the starting line-up as player-coach John Taylor sat on the bench, and Alex Russell made a welcome return to the starting line-up in place of Paul Bruce. Skipper Paul Wanless was fit to start after treatment on his back and ribs. Darlington lined up without the suspended Marco Gabbiadini. The weather was cool and clear but the Feethams pitch resembled a battle scene with its bare, bumpy surface. There was a minute's silence before kick-off in recognition of this week's tenth anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster, and it was immaculately observed.

The first half was not a thrilling affair as both sides struggled to make the best of the heavy pitch, but United had the better of the play and should have gone in one-nil up at the break.

After two and a half minutes Jamie Campbell took a quick throw, played a one-two with Alex Russell and then crossed to Trevor Benjamin who looped a header onto the roof of the net. Then after six minutes a Scott Eustace free kick was knocked down by Trevor Benjamin to Richard Walker, but the on-loan striker fired his shot into the ground where it bounced kindly for Darlington 'keeper David Preece.

Referee Mr Pike impressed no-one with his eighth minute decision when, after a crunching challenge on Walker the ball flew to Mustoe who caught it, ready to take a free kick. Instead the referee awarded a free kick to Darlington for Mustoe's handball!

In the 19th minute Benjamin collected his own flick-on and found Walker, whose shot from the edge of the box was always flying wide. The Aston Villa striker worked hard and Benjamin also looked to be getting back to his busy best, and Walker was involved again in the 28th minute when Paul Wanless launched a quick counter attack and Walker's cross to the far post was met by Wanless but directed just over the bar.

Darlington launched a rare attack in the 33rd minute when Paul Campbell was set up by Brumwell, well placed in the box, but skewed his shot well off target. Martin Butler produced a superb turn in the area after 39 minutes to make room for a shot, but scuffed his shot and the ball tricked through to Preece. Then in the 45th minute Richard Walker spurned a chance to put United ahead. Alex Russell fired in a low free kick from the bye line, just outside the penalty area, which was flicked by Butler to the unmarked Walker, but from four yards he sidefooted the shot wide. (Half-time 0-0)

United were attacking the end holding about 300 travelling U's after the break but the first chance took eleven minutes to arrive. Martin Butler controlled a sliced clearance on his chest and made room for a cross, but just failed to find Walker. In the 68th minute the most unlikely form of Ben Chenery surged forward and burst through four players before curling a shot well wide. Four minutes later Carruthers was put through by Atkinson but his tame shot was easily gathered by Shaun Marshall.

After 78 minutes John Taylor came off the bench to replace Benjamin, who had faded out of it after a good first half. Moments later Martin Butler darted into the area before firing a shot that was on target until Heckingbottom got a touch to send it behind for a corner, which was taken by Alex Russell. He found Taylor at the far post but his shot from a tight angle was blocked on the line.

Both sides were doing their best to overcome the heavy pitch and in the 90th minute substitutes Barnard and Dorner burst through before Dorner struck from the edge of the box, but Shaun Marshall, who was wrong-footed, saved brilliantly with an outstretched foot. Three minutes later Martin Butler broke away but the pitch held up his progress as the ball bounced awkwardly, he still managed to find Taylor but the striker had the same problem and the promising move petered out. Then in the final chance of the game Dorner found Barnard who lashed a shot over the bar from eight yards.

Reporter Mark Johnson summarised the action by saying that Darlington was not the place to be this afternoon if you were looking for flowing, attractive football on a good pitch and in warm April sunshine! Nonetheless both sides tried hard to cope with a pitch that looked as though it had been ploughed before kick-off and a referee who shared some of the uneven qualities of the playing surface.

Mark's choice of man of the match was between Scott Eustace and Andy Duncan but he decided on Andy Duncan for being "marginally the more immaculate."

Elsewhere, Scunthorpe closed the gap a little with their 3-1 win at Hull but Brentford and Leyton Orient could only manage a 0-0 draw which did neither of their hopes much good. Cardiff play Swansea tomorrow with the incentive of going top if they win.